


You'll find that someday soon enough/You will rise up

by charmandheaven



Category: Divergent - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:40:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29187198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charmandheaven/pseuds/charmandheaven
Summary: Serenity had worked since she was seven, most recently at a sewing factory. But, for whatever reason, the Factions seemed to be allowing Factionless children to attend the Choosing Ceremony and into Initiation. Did they suddenly care about the Factionless and if not, what was their goal?
Collections: Divergent Original Characters





	You'll find that someday soon enough/You will rise up

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The worldbuilding of Divergent makes me vomit (comment section)](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/754461) by James Tullos (YouTuber)/Jay Webster (commentor). 



> Also inspired by [Erudite](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20402956/chapters/48394684) by [your_new_boyfriend](https://archiveofourown.org/users/your_new_boyfriend/pseuds/your_new_boyfriend) and [Remnant](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18827125/chapters/44675857) by [SamhainGirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamhainGirl/pseuds/SamhainGirl).
> 
> Title from "Underdog" by Alicia Keys
> 
> Please tell me if I mischaracterise anything.
> 
> Maybe my depiction of Factionless is not compliant with canon, but like, they do say there are Factionless who work in factories. There must be a lot of factories, because there's no mention of trade with the outside world so they have to be self-sufficient. Someone needs to manage the waste, make the clothes, clean the streets, process the food, manufacture things and furniture, maintain infrastructure (buildings, plumbing, electricity), cremate/bury the dead, mortician duties etc. Like people complain of smell near the factionless places, so that means they're used to no smell, meaning someone has to be doing sanitation and waste management and sewerage management. And who manages the factories? Like, Erudite, because that's their tech they're using? Abnegation, because they're the leaders? Do the Factionless manage themselves? I know they can't simply all go on strike for the same reasons that people do not simply go on strike in the real world (death, people who do not go on strike, food, money...) but wow the factions are fucked if they simply stopped. "A drain on society" THEY'RE THE ONES HOLDING UP THIS FRAGILE SOCIETY... and if they decided not to, I would not blame them since they're paid in food and clothes and not enough of both, no shelter, electricity, running water, education, medicine, healthcare...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I understand that's probably not how you make ripped clothes, and also if they're doing different things, they would be separated, but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Every year, around this time, the work spiked up. It coincided with Initiation amongst the factions, bringing up the need for new clothes for those transfers. Either way, all it meant is she had to work over-time with no change in her pay. Serenity fed the grey fabric under the presser foot at a constant speed, the buzzing of hundreds of sewing machines surrounding her.

"I don't understand why Dauntless would order clothes to be ripped," came the usual complaint from Aliya, who was stabbing the fabric with a pair of scissors. "Can't they get it naturally from running around, killing people or whatever?"

Rita also chimed in. “It’s still not as weird as Erudite’s order for glasses. Are all their initiates near-sighted?”

Serenity cut off the stitching, holding up a finished grey pair of pants.

“At least Abnegation is simple. They have the best clothing.”

“The minimalist amount of work, and always like clockwork too,” agreed Aliya.

“Oh, but Amity… ah fuck.” Rita’s sewing machine had stopped. Serenity’s sewing machine had its light gone out too. As it turned out, so were everyone else’s in the factory. 

“The power outage is not an excuse for a break,” came the voice of a bored supervisor, “Continue your duties. The power will come back shortly.”

“A power outage? At this time of year?” Rita lifted up the presser foot and needle to take the fabric out with a sizable amount of thread, grabbed a hand sewing needle, threaded it and started to manually stitch it. It was still as neat as it would be at a sewing machine.

Serenity started on another pair of pants, hand stitching along the seam, and did not resist the urge to embroider a few simple flowers in the inner seam where no one would likely notice. Work was mind-numbing and repetitive, but listening to her friends bicker and adding a little spontaneity did wonders for her sanity.

* * *

It was past sunset when they were dismissed, and the three of them huddled together towards the cluster of dilapidated shelters a distance away. They were each given one loaf of bread, two plums and one carrot. All in a week’s work.

“See you tomorrow,” Serenity said, breaking off from the others as they entered the crumbling brick apartment. It was unlikely that anyone would attack them so close to people.

“See ya!”

She walked up the creaking stairs, careful of the precious goods in her arms. Her home was little more than one room with a front door being decorative than functional, infested with mold and bugs, almost threatening to collapse with a stray breath, but it was better than the streets. It wasn’t as open as the shelters where the faction rejects usually live but if someone shouted, the whole building could hear.

At home, her grandmother was spinning wool with a drop spindle and telling the story of the one-legged dog to Louis and Jonah. Her mother was most likely still at work, cleaning the houses and streets in the Erudite area. They turned around when she walked in.

“Ty! Ty! Look what I’ve got!” Louis said, proudly showing the two apples in his hands. He had just started working at the landfill, collecting and sorting out recyclables from general waste. On the other hand, Jonah was still young and cute enough to garner sympathy beyond Abnegation, alternating between pickpocketing and begging. He ran up to her and showed a box of soup, which was cold now.

She dropped the food on the low wooden table (scavenged by her late father long ago when he worked at the landfill), and ruffled their hair.

“Good job! We shall have a feast!” Serenity declared, to the cheers of her younger brothers. She hoped her mother would bring home some sugar and salt to better preserve the food.

The single electric lightbulb was dim, evidence of the power outage earlier. Too many safehouses, shelters, and factories were connected to the only electrical plant the Factionless could maintain for themselves. 

The fruits and vegetables could last longer than the soup and bread, so they ate bread pieces dipped in soup for dinner. Serenity made sure to give a larger portion to her grandmother and Jonah, eating little herself.

“Did anything fun happen today?” 

Louis lit up. “I saw a dog!” Then he deflated a bit. “They had to kill it though because it was sick.”

“It didn’t bite anyone, did it?” 

“No, everyone was fine. But a dog bite would be cool!”

Serenity was about to lose her cool when her grandmother interjected, “Didn’t you just listen to my story of the one-legged dog? It would not be cool.” Louis slumped at her flinty gaze. 

“Anyway, I almost have enough yarn to make a blanket and a pair of socks for Charlotte’s baby.” Charlotte lived next door and worked at the food processing factory. She used to be an Erudite initiate. “If there is extra, we can sell it, if only for an apple.”

* * *

The quilt on which they slept was also made by her grandmother, with the clothes too torn to be mended and other fabric she stole from the factory whenever she had a chance. It provided a soft surface to sleep on during the summer and a shield against the cold in the winter.

"Mum, are you okay?" Serenity asked as her mother came in. There was a distant sound of shouting, a few loud bangs that echoed in the night. Her mother placed three small jars, three loaves of bread, and two eggs on the table.

"Yes darling, I'm alright. The central hub seems to be celebrating today. Was there any news today?”

“No, nothing special.” She watched as her mother kissed the foreheads of Louis and Jonah. Then she laid down beside her and ran her hand through Serenity’s hair.

“My dear daughter.” A sigh. “Sometimes I feel selfish, that I kept you here instead of giving you to Abnegation as a baby.” It was whispered, like an unclean secret. “Your father wasn’t enough, but you and your brothers, I wanted to live for you. As long as you were with me, I felt alive and hopeful and everything I shouldn’t be living like this. But, you’re almost 16 now. If you were there, you would be choosing a faction, doing something more than this. I’m sorry...”

Tears pricked her eyes but Serenity blinked it away. When she spoke, her voice barely wavered. “No, Mum, it’s okay. We’re still surviving here.” 

But what would it be like to do more than survive? To live?

* * *

The next day, the buzz was not only coming from the sewing machines but also the increased chatter of the workers.

“They said they would be collecting all the children and allowing them into the factions.”

“That can’t be right? Where would they get all the labour from then?”

“They can’t just take them away!”

“It would be a better life, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Where is everyone getting this information?” Rita whispered.

Aliya leaned in and answered, “From the Dauntless rejects who got it from Johnson. That’s why they were so noisy last night, they see this as an opportunity to leave.”

“Can you imagine, food everyday? Nice food,” Rita sighed longingly.

“There would be school,” Serenity added, thinking of her younger brothers who were working right at that minute.

“None of us would get into Erudite,” Aliya stated bluntly. None of them had a formal education, just what the little bits parents could teach, basic maths, some letters. Sometimes, people would scavenge books from the landfill, but it was of little use to anyone other than the faction rejects. 

“And Dauntless would just bring us back here,” she continued, not needing to remind them that Dauntless rejects constituted a lot of the Factionless. “So, our choices would be limited to Candor, Amity, and Abnegation.”

“The black and white colour scheme of the Candor is as bland as Abnegation, so really, our choice is just Amity,” Rita declared, proud of her conclusion. Aliya huffed and concentrated on the nightmare that was sewing leather, ignoring Rita’s, “Am I right, or what? I’m absolutely right. Hey stop ignoring me!”

Serenity had often wondered what life would be like amongst the factions, both seeing how they were guaranteed to have food and water every day, and also how people who came to join the factionless came because of abuse or failing an initiation or that they felt there was a moral failing in the system. Especially since last night, imagining what life would’ve been like, being raised in Abnegation. Though, if her family was with her and safe, she felt it would be worth it.


End file.
